


The Glass Beneath Their Feet

by BloodFrost



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst and Romance, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Breaking Up & Making Up, Darth Vader - Freeform, Defection, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Evil Space Boyfriends, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Force Bond (Star Wars), Funny, Gay, Gay Male Character, General Armitage Hux - Freeform, Humorous, IN SPACE!, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Has No Chill, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, Love, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Romantic Soulmates, Same-sex relationships, Short & Sweet, Short Story, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - Freeform, The First Order, The Force Awakens, supreme leader snoke - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodFrost/pseuds/BloodFrost
Summary: As is the case in any relationship, sometimes, one person will become plain sick and tired of the other. When this happens, there are three options that goes towards solving the problem: Deny, Fix, or Run.While Hux has never 'run away' from a problem in his life, he does feel that he needs a break from his partner, Kylo Ren.But Kylo isn't one to just let things go, without putting up one hell of a fight.





	The Glass Beneath Their Feet

Huh sat, staring blankly down at his quiche, and listening to his boyfriend ramble on about his day.

He let out a little sigh as he pushed the food around and around his plate with his fork. He wasn't really hungry, his mind and his body weighted down with discontent.

Kylo, of course, was too self-absorbed with his own little anecdote to even notice that anything was amiss with Hux.

Things had become bad for them in these last few months, although just HOW bad, not even Hux was fully sure. Or maybe bad wasn't the correct word. Maybe it was stagnant.

When they had first started their relationship, everything had been so new, so exciting.

Even something as simple as a kiss had a heavy significance to it, because the act was such an unfamiliar one to either of them. They used to spend hours just experimenting with different techniques, staying laced together and navigating each other. It had blown Hux's mind, to think that Kylo's soft, _soft_ lips were his to enjoy, any time he wanted them. 

Which was nearly _all_ the time, apparently.

But somewhere along the line, something had changed. The newness, the magic had slipped away, bit by bit, until Hux could hardly remember what it had felt like in the beginning.

Some of it he (rightly) attributed to work. The First Order had grown substantially since those early days, leaving the both of them with many more duties and responsibilities than before. Hux in particular was busy almost constantly, leaving him with less and less time to spend with Kylo.

Another part of it was what Hux thought of as desensitization. 

They had been together so long that their love life, much like their professional lives, had settled into a dull, repetitive pattern. 

Having sex used to be a whirlwind experience of excitement, creativity and passion. Now they were both so tired all the time that neither could become interested enough to engage the other, and on the rare occasions they could, the love-making was hurried and somewhat perfunctory.

Even the 'after' was different.

'After' used to be Hux's favorite part of his day. 'After', they would hold each other; they would talk and laugh and kiss and share and dream.

The last time he had tried to talk to Kylo 'after', Kylo had fallen asleep halfway through what Hux had been saying to him.

As guilty as it made him feel, Hux very often wondered what it would be like, being with somebody else. Somebody different from Kylo.

Somebody who might appreciate Hux a little more.

Lately, it seemed that Kylo took every single thing Hux did for him for granted. Cleaning up after him, cooking for him, picking up his robes from the dry cleaners --

\-- rarely was anything that Hux did met with more than a grunt as being the highest form of acknowledgement.

And Hux was slowly but surely getting sick of it.

Things came to a head this night during dinner. Hux had worked particularly hard on their meal, and Kylo sat scarfing it all down without so much as a compliment. Hux kept attempting to tell him about his day, but everytime he tried, Kylo would interrupt or talk over him about his own day, until Hux gave up trying altogether.

And then Hux read Kylo's mind.

As will sometimes happen in long term relationships with a Force user, that person's Force-sensitivity will begin to influence and envelope the 'normal' person.

Hux, while he couldn't move objects, found that he could now hear thoughts, the same way that Kylo could. Well, not exactly the same. It was a very raw, infrequent talent, and he heard Kylo more than anybody else.

But sometimes it peaked up quite strongly, and that's what it was doing right now.

And what he read in Kylo's mind was, _I wonder if he'd be up for a quick romp before I have to go to Snoke?_

That was it? A 'quick romp'? Is THIS what their relationship had devolved to?

Hux slammed both of his fists down on the table, sending several plates crashing to the floor.

Kylo jumped, visibly shaken.

"Hux, what --"

"I have HAD it with you, Kylo Ren! You're a selfish, inconsiderate jerk, and I don't want you in my life anymore."

Still dazed, Kylo stuttered out, "H-how am I 'inconsiderate'?"

"Every day it's the same thing with you! You talk endlessly about your day but never ask about mine, you don't listen when I speak, you don't appreciate my cooking, your manners are deplorable--"

"But -- but I love you!"

"Kylo, I'm not sure that that's enough anymore. I think maybe it'd be better if we broke it off and moved on."

"You're not -- please tell me you're not being serious?"

"I'm sorry, Kylo, but if I wanted to be in a relationship with a narcissist, I'd simply date myself."

Finally, something different: Kylo started to cry.

Hux just sat and watched, stunned. He didn't think he had ever seen Kylo cry before. Truth be told, he hadn't thought he was capable of it.

Nevertheless, his mind was made up.

He stood and put his hand on Kylo's arm, steering him toward the door.

"We can't talk about this?!", Kylo asked, planting his feet and refusing to budge. Hux had to use both hands, and all of his weight, to push him out into the hallway.

"I need a break from you," Hux said. "Go back to your own quarters, okay?"

So Kylo turned and went, head hung down, slowly. Hux watched him go, and despite himself, he felt an overwhelming sense of sadness.

And of relief.

\---

A few days later, Hux came home utterly exhausted, and irritable. His last meeting had drawn on three hours past its scheduled time, taking away Hux's lunchtime from him.

He was starving.

He didn't really feel like cooking, so in his mind he was planning out what to call down and order from catering.

Halfway to his quarters, he noticed that the hallway seemed rather -- hazy. 

_That's odd_ , he thought to himself, sniffing the air. _It looks a lot like smoke. Where is that coming from?_

His heart sank to his knees when he rounded the corner and got a look at his door.

Smoke was pouring out from underneath.

He put on a run and hurriedly unlocked the door, rushing inside.

He could barely see, but the worst of it was coming from the kitchen.

He grabbed the extinguisher from off the wall and dashed in--

\--only to find Kylo, standing in front of the oven and lifting out a smoking tray of _something_ , and whistling.

The table, counter, and two chairs were slightly on fire.

Hux began to spray out the flames as Kylo looked at him in confusion.

"You didn't have to do that. I have everything under control, he said mildly, putting the _something_ on the table.

"Kylo," Hux began, coughing, "What are you DOING here? How did you even get in?!"

"Oh, you mean that pesky security code?", Kylo asked with a grin. Before Hux could comment on that, he went on: "You said I never cook, so I decided to come over and make you dinner."

Hux leaned over and peered at the _something_ on the table. He thought it was supposed to be a roast of some kind, but it was too charred to tell.

"Kylo, this is very sweet, but no. I want you to go."

"But I just--"

Hux shook his head implacably. "Just go, please." He turned his back on him and began scraping the _something_ out of the pan and into the disposal.

So Kylo walked away, shoulders hunched, to do as he was told.

\---

A few days later, the two of them were heading a meeting together. Hux felt horribly awkward, sitting so close to Kylo, and knowing that the entire time Kylo was staring at him from the corner of his eyes. 

Kylo had tried to get back into Hux's quarters numerous times after the dinner incident, and had been met with the same rejection as the first time. Hux had had to change his security locks more than once.

Regardless, right now, they had a job to do, and Hux intended to do it properly.

The majority of the meeting went off without a hitch, Kylo behaving himself and being unusually professional. Hux had a moment where he thought, maybe, just maybe, Kylo was finally coming into some kind of maturity.

And then came the end of the meeting.

Kylo stood up, and all eyes went to him.

"I have one more thing I need to say."

Everybody gave their full attention to Kylo, and Hux wanted desperately to sink down further in his seat. He almost knew what was coming, and was dreading it.

Sure enough, Kylo turned in his direction and looked directly at him.

"I'm in love with this man right here," Kylo said, pointing at him. "I love him and he loves me, but he won't admit it. He kicked me out of his life. Right now, brainstorm: how do I get him to take me back?"

Captain Phasma called out, "Flowers are always an excellent apology."

Across the room, Lieutenant Mitaka scoffed. "Flowers? What is this, the dark ages? Candy is the way to go."

"Candy? Flowers? How cliche are you all trying to be right now?", asked Officer Crowley from next to Mitaka. "Whatever happened to originality, like writing love letters, or poems?"

Captain Aislinn cleared her throat, and said "Love letters? Really? You don't think that would be coming off as, well, desperate?"

"Well, General Hux is obviously unreceptive to the entire situation, so maybe instead of a direct approach, try subtlety?", said Captain Richards. "Start off by asking him to accompany Lord Ren in a group outing, then afterwards segue into a singular outing, where he could better express himself?"

Everybody began arguing with each other, acting as if the mortified Hux wasn't even in the room.

Quietly, Hux stood up and slipped out of the room, completely unnoticed by the arguing room.

Later that night, as Hux prepared for sleep, he heard what sounded like a thump outside of his window. Thinking it was his imagination, he ignored it and continued to undress. 

And then he heard it again, louder this time.

He went to his window, and felt all the color drain from his face.

Kylo.

Kylo was outside his window, hanging on to the ledge with his fingertips.

Hux opened the window in a hurry, grabbed Kylo's arms and pulled him into the room. Kylo hit the floor face-first with a groan.

"Kylo Ren, what in the name of Vader are you DOING?!"

Kylo shakily got to his feet, brushing off his clothes.

"I read in a book somewhere, that it's romantic to climb through your beloved's window and surprise them with _this_ ," he said, pulling a now-crumpled rose from his inner robe pocket.

Hux stared at the flower, and at Kylo.

"Kylo, my window is **15** stories up! You could have fallen! You could have DIED!"

Kylo sat down on the edge of Hux's bed. "What ELSE am I supposed to do? You won't let me in the front door, what other options do I have?"

"You could try LEAVING ME ALONE, like I've repeatedly ASKED you to!"

"I -- I can't do that. If I left you alone it would mean that I'm giving up on us. I don't want that. Hux, I'm trying so hard to be the person you need me to be."

Hux shook his head and sat beside him. "No, you're not. I told you I needed a break. I told you that I needed space. You _heard_ what I said but you didn't **listen**."

Kylo reached over and put both arms around him, burying his face in Hux's neck. Very quickly, he was pleading, and after that, sobbing.

Right then and there, something became brutally clear to Hux. 

Something that had only played around the edges of his vision before.

Kylo was terribly broken inside, lost and confused. His head told him to do one thing, his heart another, until he no longer had a clear concept of who he was, or what he truly wanted (needed) out of his life.

As much as Hux would like to flatter himself that Kylo was in love with him based solely on Hux, himself, deep down he feared that to be false.

Kylo was literally starved for affection, and attention. He had been using his anger as a means to cope with the disastrous effects of his choices in life, and the path that had led him here. 

In reality, logically, it could have been anyone, any single solitary person, who could have unlocked the door to the man's scarily intense love. Anyone who, like Hux, had taken the time to talk with him, get to know him, introduce him to the unfamiliar world of warm caresses, praise, devotion.

And, for all the Kylo could do in terms of the Force, and his impressive abilities--somewhere in his psyche, mentally, he was little more than an overgrown child. A child that needed constant reassurance, physical attention, and daily affirmation.

Hux--was not sure that he was _ready_ for the complexities of this relationship with this man.

Or if he was even equipped for them.

And thinking about Kylo in this light forced Hux to take a look at himself in the same vein.

He knew all about loneliness, and self-doubt. He knew what it was like, to feel helpless to influence or control the outside forces that governed his own life.

And his love for Kylo . . . 

'Love'?

What _is_ ' **love** '?

To Hux, ultimately, it meant the desire to fully commit yourself to the other person, whatever that entailed, and whatever the consequences. It meant drawing a clear line in the sand between your beloved, and the rest of the galaxy, and saying "This is my number one priority, the thing that I can't be without; that I would live and fight and die to protect. When all else fails, when the sun loses its fire and the stars wink out of existence one by one, **this person** is the sole element that I'll hold on to in the darkness, the force that will carry me into the light."

Did Armitage Hux feel that way about Kylo Ren?

For that matter, did Kylo Ren feel that way about Armitage Hux?

Or was it much simpler than that?

This had all started, after all, after the day that Hux had seen Kylo's face for the first time.

Was it just lust, that drove this?

An attraction of each man to the others pleasing physical features? The need to engage carnally with someone else, after years of largely self-imposed sexual deprivation?

"If this is really over between us, if it's really ended, I deserve a _real_ reason **why**."

Hux continued to keep his gaze down, unable to look Kylo in his eyes.

"Armitage," Kylo said, softly, reaching out to grab his hand, "Please, talk to me. _Please_."

"Please stop touching me," Hux replied, quietly, pulling his hand out of Kylo's warm grasp.

Before Kylo could speak, Hux continued,

"This is the problem right here. The--the quiet. The touching. The way it makes me feel. You and I. It's all so--so vast. So -- so --", he said, struggling for the right words.

" -- scary?", Kylo supplied timidly.

"Yes. It's scary. What we have, what's happening between us, is a change; and it scares me. No, it doesn't just scare me; it terrifies me, worse than anything ever has in my entire life."

He hazarded a look up at Kylo, and saw that the man was watching him with his thoughtful dark eyes.

"If--you know, saying 'I love you' is easy. Anyone can say that; they're just words. But to say them and _mean_ them, to, to _feel_ them, well, that's different. It's unsettling. I need time. Time alone, time to truly think about us. Please give me that."

Kylo sighed and nodded. "Snoke has been badgering me to head the mission to the mid-rim system. I kept turning him down because I didn't want to leave you. But now, I guess I'll go."

"When do you leave?"

"If Snoke accepts, in two days. We're expected to be gone at least 2 weeks. That should be enough time for you, shouldn't it?"

Before Hux could respond, Kylo stood and headed for the door. "Armitage, I promise, no matter what you decide, whether you feel we can make this work or we end it for good, I'll accept it."

And then he was gone.

\---

A week went by, and Hux was enjoying the time to himself, the stress-free time with Kylo away and unable to bother him.

He kept up with Kylo's mission via the reports he sent back to Snoke, but otherwise made no move to contact him.

After that first week, though, something odd happened: the reports stopped coming. 

At first it was thought to be a jammed communicator symbol. This was all too common, unfortunately; the First Order had the highest grade technology to outfit all their ships, yet little things like Communicators were constantly breaking down.

But when a few days turned into an entire week, Snoke began to get concerned. He sent scouts out to the area of the last signal sent, and they came back with somber news:

Kylo Ren's command ship, as well as the Tie fighters of his men, had been found utterly destroyed. There was no trace of the men who manned them, no bodies, nothing.

Snoke soberly called a meeting with Hux and all of his top officers, to discuss the very likely probability that Kylo Ren and the rest had been killed.

Hux left that meeting with a buzzing in his brain. What Snoke had said, did not seem real to him. What the evidence (or lack thereof) suggested, did not feel real to him.

He got through the rest of the day in a kind of numb haze, and by the time he could get back to his own quarters, he was all but sleepwalking through the door.

Hux sat, staring down at his boots. His head was throbbing and the world was washing in and out, all of the colors fading to a dull gray.

Dead.

The word had no meaning in his brain, stirred up no images, no thoughts, no connotations.

And somewhere in a dim corner of his mind, Hux was grateful for this.

He needed this numbness. He needed the shock that was covering him, warming him like a blanket.

Dead.

As he sat there, staring at his boots and thinking of nothing at all, a memory of a conversation he had had with Kylo, back when they first fell in love, occurred to him.

They had been in Kylo's bedroom, and Kylo had, for the first time, opened up about what had went on between himself and the scavenger girl, the day Starkiller exploded.

"I think--Hux, I think the girl. Rey. I think she might be my--half sister. From Han."

"What would make you think that?"

"Little things. Little bits of conversations and memories that didn't make sense when I was younger, but, thinking about them now, fit together perfectly."

"Such as?"

"In the weeks leading up to their final separation, my parents fought a lot. Much more than normal, and much more passionately. And one of the things my mother would lob at him, over and over, was the phrase "the young Jedi." I always thought she was talking about ME, in some way. But now I think, maybe, she was talking about whoever Rey's mother was. I think she was possibly a student, an adult one, at Luke's academy. I think he met her during one of the times he would be dropping me off at the Academy after a weekend visit home, and developed a secret relationship with her. Eventually, conceived Rey with her, and then abandoned her once he realized that acknowledging it would put him in danger of losing MY mother."

"Do you really think your father would do that?"

Kylo nodded. "I'm not saying he didn't have his good attributes, because he did. But at the same time, he was quite known as a ladies man. Handsome, charming, an air of danger--women seem to flock to those things. They did before he met my mother, and perhaps they did afterwards."

"I must be a woman, then, because those are the things that drew me to you."

Kylo blushed, and looked away. After a moment, he continued.

"My _point_ is, if it IS her, I'd like to find her. To apologize, for starters. Also, to try and convince her to join me, here. She was so powerful that first time we met; and at that point, she hadn't even been properly _trained_ yet. If she's been with Luke all this time, learning from him--just imagine how much stronger she is now. Together, we could overthrow Snoke, and take over his empire for ourselves."

Hux frowned at that. "And where would **I** fit in, in this grandiose plan of yours?"

Kylo laughed and took Hux's hand in his, kissing it. "You'd be my pleasure slave, of course."

"What?!"

"My pleasure slave. I'd dress you in one of those skimpy gold costumes, keep you in a cage. Ravage you 5, 6 times a night."

Hux's frown deepened, and Kylo leaned into him, pressing their foreheads together. 

"In all seriousness, you'd be the new Emperor. You have a better head for decision making, for strategizing and ruling than I do. Rey and I would be your co-rulers, I suppose, but all ultimate decisions would likely be yours."

Hux leaned in and kissed Kylo's tempting lips. "That's very sweet, darling, but wouldn't you rather be my husband, MY king, and make decisions alongside with me?"

Kylo pulled away and sat back down, sighing. "That would never work. Better to keep things uncomplicated like they are now."

Hux came and sat on his lap, putting his arms around his shoulders.

"Why wouldn't it work?"

"I just _told_ you why. My parents, their marriage was so strong, so loving. Then my father makes one little mistake and unravels the entire thing. What if that happened to us?"

Hux pressed his head into Kylo's chest. "I could never do that to you. Be unfaithful, if that's what you're talking about. I would never hurt you. I love you, you know."

But oh, how hypocritical Hux had been. The passion between them had cooled due to a number of factors, but instead of trying to fix them, Hux had kicked Kylo out. And Kylo had done everything he could think of to get Hux back, and Hux had rejected his love.

And now, there was a very likely probability that Kylo Ren was . . . 

"Dead?", Hux said out-loud to the empty room.

The tears came so suddenly, so hard, that at first Hux wasn't aware that they were happening. But they WERE, just as Starkiller had happened, just as his relationship with Kylo Ren had happened, and now, just as this newest accident had happened.

He cried without bothering to raise his hands to his eyes.

He cried without pause, without stopping to catch his breath or blow his nose.

He simply cried.

\---

Personal feelings have no place in a business setting. Hux knew this better than anybody else. With a Herculean effort, he pushed his grief down deep inside of himself and went about his duties as normally as possible. It was only at night, in the confines of his quarters, and away from prying eyes, that he could let his feelings out.

It was amazing him, how many years he could produce. That he could find it in him to still feel grief, to feel loss, even after the event had long passed.

Why is the measure of grief, loss?

Why do we only tend to care about things AFTER they're gone? After it's too late to hold, to touch, to kiss?

To apologize?

Hux didn't believe in the concept of an afterlife, although, for the first time ever, he badly wanted to. To think that Kylo Ren was lying somewhere, cold, lifeless, all the things that had made him beautiful and warm and REAL, gone . . . Hux's own spirit couldn't bear that.

A week turned into one, then two, then an entire month had gone by with no discernible sign of life from  
any of those who had left.

One day, Hux was sitting in his quarters, staring out the window. It was snowing. The grounds below were dark, lit sporadically by the moonlight that spilled through the clouds.

He was just about to pick himself up and go to bed, when a voice chilled him to the bone.

//Armitage Hux//

Hux's head shot up, and he looked around his dark room.

Nobody was here but him.

Attributing what he thought he heard to extreme fatigue, he shook his head and headed into his bedroom.

//Armitage Hux//

Hux looked around wildly in the dark. This time, it didn't seem so much like his imagination.

He wandered through his quarters, slowly inspecting everything. 

//Armitage Hux//

Tilting his head, he realized that it seemed to be coming from his closet. He took a dee breath and opened it.

Back when it became obvious that Kylo Ren would never come back, Hux had broken into his quarters and taken anything that had meaning to him. Extra robes, his cape, and, as much as this last piece scared him, the helmet.

Not Kylo's own helmet, which of course he had taken with him, but that of his grandfather, Darth Vader.

Looking at the shelf where he had put it, now, filled Hux with a kind of dread and awe. 

Was he seeing things--

\--or was the charred piece of metal floating several feet inches in the air?

He blinked, then shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

It WAS floating.

Hux stared in open-mouthed disbelief, unable to cope with what his eyes were taking in.

//Armitage Hux//

There was no mistaking that the voice was coming from the helmet.

Kylo had always insisted to him that Darth Vader's spirit spoke to him through the helmet, but until this moment, Hux had never actually believed that.

Feeling both terrified, and absurd, Hux forced himself to open his mouth, and what came out was,

"Good evening, Lord Vader."

There was a period of silence so long that Hux started to question his sanity once more, and then the voice answered back,

//Good evening.//

Hux sat down in a graceless thump in front of the closet door. This was -- this was--

//I don't presume to be rude, Lord Vader, but why are you speaking to me?//

More silence, and Hux had to put his head in his hands, taking deep breaths to try and calm the slamming of his heart.

//I have a message for you. From my grandson.//

"Oh, Maker," Hux managed to whisper weakly. Right away, his mind leapt to: He's dead. He's dead and he's speaking to Vader now as a Force-ghost. Vader's dead and he's talking to YOU. You're hearing it. Oh, oh sweet Maker, what's wrong with me?!

//He's not dead. He's with my daughter.//

The words sent Hux's heart crashing frantically against his chest. All the blood came rushing to his face, and for a moment, he felt positive he was going to faint. He stretched out on the floor, head still in his hands, and waited for the spell to pass.

It passed.

"He's with Leia Organa? Is he a prisoner? Has he been captured by the Resistance?"

//No. he went to her.//

"But the other men--"

//There was a crash. Your soldiers were killed on impact. Kylo crawled from the wreckage. He found his way to my daughter.//

"So he's defected?", Hux asked incredulously. The idea was surreal to him, made more so by the fact that it was currently being suggested to him by a disembodied voice.

Vader continued to speak, and Hux listened intently. The longer he listened, the less strange it seemed. 

Towards the end of their conversation, Vader gave Hux the name of a planet he had never heard of before. It was located in the deepest reach of the galaxy, and, according to Vader, it was where the Resistance base was.

And where Kylo was.

Alive.

Hux remained laying on the floor in front of his closet the rest of the night, his head a confused mess.

When the first beams of daylight broke through the windows, Hux got up and left his quarters, walking to the map room.

He pulled up the most detailed hologram of the galaxy that he could find. He painstakingly pored over each star system, each cluster of celestial bodies.

And then he found it.

The planet Vader had given him.

Small, unobtrusive. Located in the last place he, or anyone in the First Order, would think to search.

Hux sat with his finger touching the spot on the holo for a long time. Eventually he roused himself and pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket, writing down the coordinates. Then he went through the holos, ALL of them, and systematically erased all evidence that the planet existed.

As he walked back to his own quarters, for the first time in weeks, he found himself smiling.

\---

A small satchel. What few changes of clothing he had WITHOUT any First Order insignia on it. A handful of credits. And a flamethrower.

\---

The First Order kept several small, unmarked ships that they used for going incognito. It was one of these that Hux got in. He was quiet as he flew through System after System, not bothering to stop to eat or rest or refuel.

\---

A rendezvous point. Hux used his remaining credits to buy an even smaller, nondescript ship. He used the flamethrower to torch the one he had arrived in.

He was getting closer.

\---

Beautiful, lush and green. Very green. A soft rain fell over the lay of the land. 

The edge of the forest. Vader had said that Kylo would sense when (if) Hux was coming to him, and wait for him there.

Hux left his ship, pulled the small bag over his shoulders, and set off.

\---

He was getting closer.

\---

A voice behind him sent an electric shock through his heart, and his entire body jerked as though shot with a blaster.

He turned around slowly and looked.

Dark eyes, brown-hazel, stared back at him. Pale skin, dark hair, and a full, uneven smile.

"You came."

Hux took a step towards him and stopped, then stopped. Was this an apparition? Another dream? 

"You're here."

The dream stepped closer and touched his cheek. His hand was warm, and Hux closed his eyes, letting heat sink into his chilled skin.

"I thought you were dead. And when I started hearing your grandfather in my head, I thought I was crazy. Am I? Are you really here?"

"I am, and you are. I've defected from the First Order. I'm your enemy. It's your duty to turn me in."

Hux threw his arms around Kylo and crushed him with the full intensity of all his pent-up emotions. A paper-picture of how awful he most look right now floated up on his head. Shaking, sobbing, disheveled, eyes sunk from no sleep--

"If you're a defector, I am too," he said when he was finally able to let go, wiping his tears with his sleeve. "Anything that you are, I want to be, too."

"Are you sure? Do you have any idea what you're giving up?"

"I left everything. None of it matters. YOU matter. WE matter. I love you."

Crying, Kylo kissed him. He was holding Hux as if time had no meaning, as if the past had no strength to intrude on the present.

"Is this going to be okay? Is your mother--"

"She's going to love you. I've already told her about you. So don't worry, just come with me."

\---

He held out his hand.

\---

Hux took it.

\---

"I don't know if this is a happy ending, but here we are, let loose in green fields."

\-- Jeanette Winterson


End file.
